Another well researched and well written work of historical fiction from this author, and it was hard to put down. Hilde and Hannah were childhood friends, but with the rise of the Nazis, Hannah’s family moved to Prague, thinking they were safe. Hilde became a staunch supporter of the Reich, while Hannah ended up in Theresienstadt. “Propaganda has the power to divide us, make enemies of our neighbors and even physically harm one another”. When Hilde is on the team to film the so called “model” of the detention camp, the paths of Hilde and Hannah cross again. The detailed descriptions of the camp were accurate, as I have visited there to see the horrific site myself. The stories of man’s inhumanity to man must continue to be told. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Told in alternating points of view, The Girls of the Glimmer Factory is poignant historical fiction about two former childhood friends. Years later, in 1942, one is a widowed German woman working for the Nazi propaganda machine and the other is a prisoner in Theresienstadt, a model ghetto in present day Czech Republic where the Nazis plan to make a propaganda film to convince the world that the Jewish people are living well in the camps.

This is such a heartbreaking and emotionally challenging story. I was thoroughly absorbed in Hannah’s life before & during her time in the prison camp.. Hilde’s story is less engaging perhaps because of her misguided allegiance to the Nazi party. But they were a good balance to one another under Coburn’s deft writing, revealing the true horrors of this historic period.

Unable to evacuate to Palestine with the rest of their family, Hannah and her grandfather are trying to survive in Prague. As the Nazis take over, Hannah and her grandfather are forced to resettle in the model ghetto called Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia. There, they are forced to perform slave labor, eat meager rations, there is no running water, and they must live in barracks. In truth, the ghetto is nothing more than a rundown place. When she finds out the Nazis plan to make a propaganda film to convince the world the Jewish are living well in the camps, Hannah becomes determined to show the world the truth. Working with other resistance members, they try to disrupt and derail the filming. Hilde is a German girl who is a firm believer in the Nazi cause. Working in the Reich Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda, she wants to create a documentary that will renew confidence in what Hitler is doing. When the film meets resistance, Hilde is determined to make a name for herself. Then, she recognizes her childhood friend, Hannah. Soon, the two’s worlds collide. Who will ultimately survive?

The plot is well written, engaging, and well researched. The characters are authentic, realistic for the time period, and believable. Readers will enjoy this gripping historical fiction as it explores both sides of history. Readers who like historical fiction, stories of resistance, and survival will want to pick this one up. Due to an on-page rape scene and other mature content, this book is best suited for an adult audience. Recommended for most public library collections. 5 stars, ADULT

Through Hannah, a Jewish woman, and Hilde, a German Nazi,
The Girls of the Glimmer Factory tells the story of the
Theresienstadt Ghetto and of the Nazi propaganda machine.
These two pieces of history intesect when Hilde makes a Nazi
film about the ghetto and runs into her childhood friend Hannah,
who is forced to toil there. What I love most about
jennifer coburn's books is how she takes little known pieces of
WWIl history and truly brings them into the spotlight in her
novels. So much of this book is based on real historical events
and people that I can almost guarantee you've never heard of
before. If you're a historical fiction fan, especially WWlI era, pick
this one up.

The Girls of the Glimmer Factory by Jennifer Coburn is a poignant Historical Fiction with a difference and that special something. Set during WWII, two friends' lives take completely different paths. Hannah has a deep family connection, especially to her Minna. But she becomes imprisoned at the Nazi model ghetto Theresienstadt in former Czechoslovakia. There are temporary plants, grass, food to eat and smiles on the faces of the prisoners in the least worst physical condition in a bid to persuade The Red Cross of their generosity and compassion. But beneath the vibrant facade lie desperation, anger and despair. Prisoners were treated abysmally and died there but as it was not a mass-scale killing camp, some held onto tiny strands of hope. Many were also sent to Auschwitz, from one hell to the next. In propaganda film and materials, Jews were promised a "paradise settlement" but instead realized it was a labor camp with little food. In this story, though characters do not want to leave home, they do dream of paradise. A resistance rises up and babies were smuggled out. It is all Hannah can do to survive torment, starvation and disease.

Hannah's childhood friend Hilde was a Nazi activist and as such was thrilled with her job as a secretary working on the documentary film "Hitler Gives A City to the Jews". She enjoyed her creativity outlet and feeling important. Her goal was to climb the work ladder. Her complaints were so trivial in comparison to what millions endured!

Mica splitting played a role, albeit a small one. What gripped me most aside from family relationships is the extreme cruelty and calculation of the Nazi propaganda. I knew about it before but this was very impactful. I like the importance that music played in the camp. It may seem impossible to believe but when desperate, beautiful things can result even under the harshest conditions and the tiniest doses offered hope.

My sincere thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this emotive novel.

In this story we follow Hannah Kaufman and Hilde Kramer, two childhood friends. Hannah and her family who are Jewish eventually ending up at Theresienstadt together. Hilde is now working for the Nazi’s as a hand for their film production. The location is Theresienstadt, a model Nazi camp where the Nazi’s are wanting to make films and propaganda, to show that the Jewish people held here are being treated well. When the Red Cross came for tours, it showed them that the Jews were being treated fairly. This was obviously not the case. More than half the prisoners at this camp were sent to Auschwitz to be massacred.

I loved this story of unlikely friendships, resistance and the fact of propaganda. The first half of the book started out slow for me, but a little more than a quarter way through it, I couldn’t put it down. When you are done reading you must read the authors note where she states what was real and which parts were altered for the story, this amazed me. Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and of course the author, Jennifer Coburn for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Thank you so much to @netgalley , @bookmarked , and @jennifercoburnbooks for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release date: January 28, 2025

This book took me by surprise. What an incredible story of turmoil, strength, and perseverance. This story that takes place during World War II will blow you away. The dual perspectives were incredibly well-done: one woman being a Nazi activist and the other being a Jewish girl trying to figure out how to survive the unknown in a work camp.

The immersion of the reader in this bleak time period is emotional and tangible with every turn of the page. I didn’t know anything about this specific camp and the glimmer factory so it was interesting to learn about both. I also loved how the author added a section at the end explaining all of the historical references, which enhanced the meaning of the story and added a layer of respect to those who experienced this war in their own lives.

Coburn does an excellent job of putting the reader in the story. The historic world building is incredibly descriptive and touches on more than one of your senses. You feel Hannah’s emotions and you experience Hilde’s naivety start to finish. Add Jennifer Coburn to your historical fiction author list because she has nailed immersive storytelling.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I had the pleasure of reading The Cradles of the Reich, so when I heard Ms. Coburn wrote another book about the travesties of human suffering during WWII, I had to read it. True to her work, the research is incredibly comprehensive. But the real gift is how Ms. Coburn masterfully weaves the research into a book that will capture the reader. The book opens as Hannah and her family prepare to emigrate to Palestine from Prague. Unfortunately, Hannah and her opa are unable to make it, and are eventually relocated to Theresienstadt. Theresienstadt was labeled as "Hitler's gift to the Jewish people." One can only imagine the real life there and how Hannah lives or maybe more appropriately survives.

The situation facing Hannah is juxtaposed with that of Hilde. Hilde was a friend from their days in Munich. Hilde is a cunning, selfish German who aspires to climb the ranks of the Reich. Hilde works her way into the ministry that produces film propaganda to appease the world as to the true nature of German treatiment of Jews. Together, the contrast between Hannah and Hilde is a perfect metaphor for the reality of Theresienstadt.

But what really shines thorugh is the intricate writing based on the author's thorough research. My compliments once again on a throughly engaging book!

This was an interesting look into the Terezin ghetto. Most of my prior reference to this came from Herman Wouk's The Winds of War series. This showed more of the relationships and reinforced how both Jews and Germans were misled as to the purpose of the ghetto and the work camps. I was surprised by the betrayal of Hilde but had certainly heard of family members doing such things.

This is the second novel I've read by this author and I've enjoyed both of them very much. This book is very well researched and I learned a lot. It is the story of two friends. One Jewish, just trying to survive and the other a woman who will do almost anything to advance herself. I had never heard of Theresienstadt and found it fascinating. So many artists and so much talent among such misery and deplorable conditions. The will to survive is amazing. I enjoyed every page and would highly recommend this book.

I had heard of the more notorious Nazi concentration camps: Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Dachau, Kraków-Plaszów, and Ravensbrück. The most infamous was Auschwitz. Jennifer Colburn’s The Girls of the Glimmer Factory, a historical fiction novel that is set in ghetto labor camp called Theresienstadt, introduced me to a transitional camp for German, Czech, and Austrian Jews. It was a camp I’d never heard of before.

Colburn’s novel features Hannah Kaufman and her family, who are on the verge of fleeing to Palestine when Hannah and her grandfather, Oskar, whom she fondly refers to as Opa, are left behind and eventually wind up at Theresienstadt, a transitional ghetto camp. The Nazis created a fictional story about the camp, describing it as a spa town where workers participate in the arts, attend concerts and lectures, visit cafes and coffee shops, have access to books, and are able to worship at synagogue. A Council of Jewish Elders meet to select the cultural activities. This proves to be propaganda. While the Jewish prisoners do have access to those activities, they were not free. They are slave labor, the same as prisoners in the other camps. Meals are meager. Barracks, latrines, hygiene facilities, and medical care were disgusting. People are dying of typhus and other diseases. The “glimmer factory” is where young women sliced mica into slivers, which the Nazis sell for the war effort. Mica sparkles: therefore, “glimmer” is the term the girls used. It was hard on their hands, but it is not the back-breaking work others endured.

Hilde Kramer is a young widow who returns to Berlin and finds a job with the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. The Ministry has long had a goal to enhance the Party’s image by producing a film about Theresienstadt. Hilde’s dream is to make that film. Chapters alternate between the ghetto camp and Hilde’s attempts to be successful within the Nazi party. I found her personality and this arc of the story particularly unsympathetic.

On the other hand, I found life at Theresienstadt, as sad and horrific as it was, to be fascinating and strangely uplifting. Oskar is optimistic almost to the end, admitting at last that he’s been duped. Yet, in a situation so hopeless, how else does one go on? There is resistance, of course, and the characters who take risks to save others most certainly are based on real-life heroes.

In her Author’s Note, Ms. Colburn describes the research that went into this novel. While many of the characters are fictitious, the Nazi officials named are real, as are many of the Jewish artists. She was able to view the actual propaganda film that was made and examine items made by prisoners. Naturally, she has taken some artistic license in writing this work of fiction. It is, however, based on actual events.

I received an ARC copy of The Girls of the Glimmer Factory in exchange for my honest review, My thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to Net Galley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and the author.

4.5 stars rounded up

The Girls of the Glimmer Factory is the second book I have read by Jennifer Coburn. Cradles of the Reich was the first, which was a 5+ star read for me. The Girls of the Glimmer Factory started off slow for me but a little over half way through it picked up. The story is about Hannah and Hilde, two childhood friends one Jewish and the other not. They end up at Theresienstadt together. Hilde is working for the Nazi’s. Theresienstadt is said to be a model work camp set up to show the world that the Jews were not being treated bad. It was made to look like a model ghetto when the Red Cross came for tours to make sure the Jews were being treated fairly. This was definitely not the case. More than half the prisoners of the camp were sent to Auschwitz to be exterminated.

This was a very well researched book. When you are done reading you must read the authors note where she states what was real and which parts were altered for the story. I was glad that the author included the actual facts.

I visited this camp when I was in Prague and it brought back many memories from my trip.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. It is always important to keep reading about the Holocaust to keep it alive and to make sure the world never forgets.

This novel centers on Theresienstadt, the Jewish “settlement” created by the Nazi propaganda to show how well they were treating the Jewish people. It is told in alternating POV, Hannah, a young Jewish girl sent to Theresienstadt with her grandfather, and Hilde, a German girl who used to be best friends with Hannah, until she began to believe in the mission of the Reich. Their paths crossed again when Hilde was on the propaganda team that visited Theresienstadt to create the films that would be shown to the public. Hilde was ambitious and dedicated to the Nazi cause until she came face to face with Hannah and learned what was really happening in the other camps. How will she respond to what she knows?

This was a beautifully told, heartwrenching book. It’s the first WWII novel that I’ve read that included the perspective of a Nazi sympathizer. Extensive notes at the end share the author’s research process and what parts were real/imagined/changed for the writing of this book.

I received a digital ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.

In The Girls of the Glimmer Factory, Jennifer Coburn combines meticulous historical research with a compelling, and heart-wrenching, fictional narrative. The book centers on the little-known story of the Theresienstadt ghetto, a "model" camp that the Nazis created, and filmed, in an attempt to reassure the world that horrific tales of concentration camps were nothing but rumors. The themes of propaganda v. reality, survival and familial ties, and the mechanics of belief are all explored with great success and reverberate in today's world. Highly recommended.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publishers, and the author for a chance to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

It is hope within darkness. An untold story of WWII where beauty is hidden and one does what they have to in order to survive. It showed true grit and determination. A definite must read for 2025.

Thank to Netgalley for an ARC

“Propaganda has the power to divide us, make enemies of our neighbors, and even physically harm one another. Dictators propagating false narratives are nothing new but always dangerous. On the other hand, human connection- women’s friendships in particular- has the power to help us discover who we really are and find our strength when we need it most.”
This is a story of women’s friendships and human connection in the midst of inexplicable inhumanity, injustice, pain and loss. This is also a story of unfathomable hope and determination in the desire to be free from the horrors of Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’ and Nazi rule. Within the Jewish Ghetto of Terezin and the fortress of Theresienstadt, unimaginable atrocities occurred while those imprisoned there continuously tried to find the beauty in the world through their rebellion and sorrow.
Well written with factual, historical events depicted in heart wrenching detail, The Girls of the Glimmer Factory gives an inside look at everyday life inside Terezin as told by the point of view of both its prisoners and those who visited. I definitely had all the feels reading this one. The lives of the two main characters were in juxtaposition until they weren’t, and the results for each were never the same.
Although this book kept reminding me of another I had read based on life and events at Terezin, it is different. The thing is, with stories having this many similarities within the Terezin ghetto, you know the truth is there too.
When reading “a novel about the dangers of propaganda”, it’s important to note that it’s a timeless lesson, one that resonates even today. Coburn keeps this in mind throughout her telling of the story, and presents it in candid detail.

Having read many books on World War II and the Holocaust, I am once again struck by the resiliency and courage of these people in the face of so much adversity and atrocities. As in Cradles of the Reich, it was interesting to learn about yet another facet that you don’t always hear about (Lebensborn and Theresienstadt). Very thought provoking.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I learned about Theresienstadt, a concentration camp that I had never before heard of. The characters are amazing. This novel will stay with me. It is frightening to see so many parallels in life today.

Theresienstadt, a ghetto in Czechoslovakia, is the stage the Nazis set to show ‘proof’ that Jewish people aren’t being harmed at the hands of the Third Reich. The reality, of course, is a living hell for the prisoners sent there. Hilde is the filmmaker assigned, and she’s keen to prove herself. There, she runs into her childhood friend, Hannah, who is there as a prisoner with her grandfather.

The contrast between Hilde and Hannah provides great conflict and what I imagine would have been a realistic picture of the reality of living at that time. Hilde has been sucked into the Nazi ideologies, while Hannah has no choice but to bear the cruelty and oppression. The storytelling is powerful.

I read Jennifer Coburn’s novel Cradles of the Reich a couple of years ago and I enjoyed The Girls of the Glimmer Factory just as much. I enjoy this author’s ability to find lesser-known elements of the Holocaust to write about. I feel as though I learn a lot through her writing.

A huge thanks to the author for inviting me to read a digital ARC through NetGalley!

The book begins with a prologue, setting the scene and the idea of a Nazis party who order a documentary to be filmed at Thereseinstadt to show how well they are treating the Jewish people they have moved there. It covers the fact that there were in fact three films made in the end. It also shows how the Germans staged the scenery and the prisoners for the documentary.

The two main characters of Hannah Kaufman and Hilde Kramer are then introduced in turn. As girls the two attend the same school and life is fairly normal for them until Hitler raises in the ranks of power. Hannah Kaufman and her family have moved once already trying to escape the Nazis, her grandparents Opa Oskar & Oma Minna’s “Kaufman Apotheke” had been targeted during Kristallnacht, windows smashed and the good inside ransacked. They had thought they were “safe” living in Prague but they were now discovering that things were rapidly changing for the worse once again for anyone that is Jewish.
In the book, Hannah recalls things changing, such as the teachers at school suddenly putting her at the back of the class and not wanting her input anymore, or turning up to Hilde Kramer’s birthday party as she had done every other year but this time when Mrs Kramer answer the door she was ushered away and the door closed in her face with Mrs Kramer implying Hilde needed to make different friends now.
Rolf Kramer has managed to secure false documents for himself, his wife Ingrid, Hannah their now 19 year old daughter and their younger son Benjamin to travel to Palestine. They hope to get settled quickly and then send for Opa Oska and Oma Minna to come and join them. The plan for their travel has been timed to the second and planned to the last detail, unfortunately Rolf could not foresee Hannah coming down with Small pox. There is panic and last minute, alterations to birthdates on documents and Oma Minna goes on in Hannah’s place. Opa Oskar is the eternal optimist which at time irritates Hannah but they get along together with Opa Oskar finding employment in a Czech Apotheke, hidden away in the back where Germans will not see him working secretly and Hannah gains employment as a maid. Opa Oskar and Hannah are call that leaves them pleased that Rolf, Ingrid & Benjamin made the crossing safely but unfortunately Oma Minna also went down with Small pox and she sadly died during their journey.
It's not long until Opa Oskar & Hannah receive transport papers they are to move to a special “Spa village” that Hitler has said the Jewish should live in. Whilst Hannah is offered the chance to in plain sight by gaining false papers and posing as the niece of Czech family friend, she refuses she cannot let her dear Opa go to this Spa Village created by Hitler alone.
They arrive at Thereseinstadt camp and just as Hannah had feared it is most certainly not the lovely Spa Village with the Lakeside Cottage that her Opa had been expecting.
Of course, life is hard, and dangerous. The prisoners are separated from family members and put in barracks. Hannah is in the Dresden barrack with other women & women with children. You did the jobs you were given without question. Hannah ends up working at the Museum Workshop under an older woman called Griselde, there they transcribe the Torah and other important documents that Hitler has suddenly decided will be important to history. Hannah meets up with old friends Misa, who works in the Glimmer Factory where the women use sharp knives to chip pieces of mica down for the German war effort. The women regularly cut themselves but their names seem to stay off the transport lists so it’s considered a good job. Misa’s mother Marketa works as a cook and tries her best to slip her daughter and her friends a little extra food but with so little food available there rarely is any extra to be had by anyone.
Hannah discovers Misa is part of the The Thereseinstadt camp resistance when she secretly follows her to a secret meeting, another of their school friends Pavel is part of it too. Pavel and Misa would probably be a courting couple under different circumstances. The high risk is plan is to sneak letters out to reveal the real living conditions in the camp. Its at this first resistance meeting that Hannah is introduced to Radek a ghetto policeman who uses his rank to help the resistance. Hannah doesn’t want to get involved at first saying its too risky and others could be punished for their actions too not just them. However, as time goes on as more people are transported, and more become ill and perish she finds herself drawn to the resistance, a small way to make a difference. When the Red Cross are to visit the camp has to organise shows for them to see, musical concerts, football matches etc all designed to show Thereseinstadt in the best possible light. The resistance plan to tell the Red Cross the truth but never get the chance to do so.

Hilde is German and married her husband Max Bischoff, when she became pregnant, they moved to the family dairy farm out in the country prior to Max going away to war. Hilde’s mother in law, Fredericke Bischoff, doesn’t like her daughter in law much. Hilde miscarries their baby whilst Max is away at war and ends up breaking the news to him in a letter.
Sadly, not long after an Officer arrives at the dairy farm and delivers the news that Max has been killed in action. Fredericke will not let Hilde help with the funeral as she says she didn’t even know Max well enough. Fredericke enlists the help of his school friend Brigitte, who is Fredericke’s friend daughter and whom she had wanted Max to marry. Fredericke is quite matter of fact when she tells Hilde that she expects her to leave the dairy farm the day after the funeral! Hilde returns to Berlin, eventually managing to get a secretarial position, she immediately embarks on or perhaps a more accurate description would be endures an affair with her boss Otto to further her career as she wants to get into making films. She eventually secures the job as Hans Gunthers assistant on a documentary he is making about Thereseinstadt, the lovely Spa Village that Hitler has had the Jewish people sent to. The documentary is meant to quiet the rumblings around the world about how the Jewish people are being treat by the Germans. Hilde visits the camp and is shocked at what she sees wondering how they can possibly make the Germans look commendable in their treatment of the Jews, but is soon scheming to take staged favourable shots. Hilde also has the issue that she lied and said she could speak Czech, but her worries disperse when she sees and recognises her old school friend Hannah Kaufman. Hilde decides that Hannah will be her assistant, & secret translator when needed. There are delays and other films are made but eventually Hilde gets to go the Thereseinstadt to help make the documentary. This time Hilde sees a difference in the camp as it is just after the Red Cross visit and all the sprucing up that the Germans had made the Jewish people do.
When Hilde discovers that after filming there is going to be a large transport to what she has recently learnt is a death camp called Auschwitz she makes a plan to rescue Hannah. Hannah refuses saying she cannot leave Danuse behind, a little girl who she cares for since Olina, Danuse’s mother was sent to Auschwitz. Hilde hopes Hannah will change her mind and meet her where she has told her later that night. However, Hilde is betrayed and taken away by the Gestapo for planning to aid the escape of a Jewess.

The Jewish people are told that they are travelling to Berlin, to do work for the war effort and young and old alike are squashed into rail carriages for the long journey. Hannah & her friends decide to try to stick together but the hustle and bustle mean Misa and her mother Marketa end up in a different carriage. Hannah realises by the position of the sun that they are not travelling to Berlin, they are in fact heading to Auschwitz. A few younger Jewish people set about breaking out of the carriage and a few escape, running to the nearby woods, whilst the train takes the other people to Auschwitz

There is also an epilogue, which I read with mixed feelings, happiness for the survivors and the lives they went on to live but sadness for those on the Auschwitz transport heading to their death and dismayed at what happened to some of those characters that were left behind in Thereseinstadt, that weren’t on the transport to Auschwitz. An emotive depiction of families, lovers, friends ripped apart by Hitler and his Nazis party.

I found the book to be thought provoking too. The different ways Hannah & Hilde viewed their “friendship.” Was what Hilde felt for Hannah friendship, pity or guilt? Did Hilde know that her mother had turned her friend away from her birthday party all those years before. Hannah certainly didn’t view Hilde as a friend anymore and was quite clear tin telling Hilde anyone that was part of the Nazis party was no friend of hers.
Hitler and his Nazis party did strange things to people, friends and neighbours turning on each other. One character in the book named Jana was married to a German man who was having an affair and his Mistress turned in Jana as she knew she was a “Jewess” and Iveta as because she was Jana’s daughter, she was mixed race or as the Nazis called it “Mischling” meaning they ended up in Thereseinstadt.

Though fictional the book is based on research the author has done through searching through archives and speaking to survivors. It is an intriguing insight into life in Thereseinstadt. Some of the prisoner arrival dates have been altered, and some incidents are taken from other settlements and did not actually occur in Thereseinstadt, so there is a little poetic licence taken by the author. Having said that, the author presents an honest version about what was happening at the time, whilst still showing that the Jewish people held on to some hope of an end to it all and held on to their loved even more tightly knowing that they could be ripped apart at any second.

The documentary film made life in Thereseinstadt look idyllic, almost like a holiday camp. There was entertainment put on by the prisoners, there were weddings and children born in Thereseinstadt but in reality, the entertainment was escapism for the Jewish prisoners and only on after an arduous day of working. Couples did marry, in fact Opa Oskar in the book marries Griselde but they were not the lavish celebrations depicted. In Thereseinstadt couples survived on snatched moments and have to deal with the consequences of pregnancies if they happened, babies didn’t live long in the harsh reality of life in Thereseinstadt. Some children were born whilst the first Commandant Siedl was in charge, then when Commandant Anton Burger took over, he implemented the rules more diligently and there were abortions performed.
The Germans thought the Jewish were ignorant of what Auschwitz was, but some knew what went on there. The prisoners were allowed to write postcards to family and friends, though anything the German didn’t want the recipients of the cards to know was blacked out so the prisoners developed special codes. The character Klara wrote to Hannah from Auschwitz and let her know things were worse than Thereseinstadt there by letting her lines of writing slant downwards.

I of course loved the character of Hannah, her strength, the lengths she had to go to in order to get extra food, the way she supported her Opa despite his insistence they were heading to a Spa Village, the way she stepped up to care for Danuse when the little girl’s mother had been taken on a transport. Her bravery helping the resistance to smuggle babies out. I also adored Radek, a ghetto Policeman that could be trusted, he was one of the good guys helping the resistance, turning a blind eye wherever he could and his relationship with Hannah, how he talked about a proper first date when “all this was over”, such a gentleman that Hannah had to make the first move to kiss him and then how he wanted to write their names on the tunnel walls like other before them.

I found the book was well written and interesting, “enjoyable” – though that seems the wrong term to use when you remember that the horrors these characters go through are what actual, real people suffered. The book was very well written, the plot certainly drew you in and kept you engrossed to the very end. It made you almost like a fly on a wall, observing everything unfold. The pace of the book certainly kept me wanting to read it, desperate to find out what would happen to the characters I had grown to care for. I will definitely be looking at other books by the author! I honestly think this book would be great as a TV mini- series. The only small negative I had was that the book flits back & forth in time out of consecutive order about the details film making that was going on in Thereseinstadt, which can be a bit confusing.

Summing up, I found the book to be sad yet uplifting, proving that humans, the Jewish people in this case, can survive anything, including the most, dire circumstances and torturous treatment heaped upon them by Hitlers Nazis. Don’t get me wrong the book is not all “doom & gloom” despite the circumstances the characters in this book found love, friends and some lighter moments, though they were scarce.

On a final note, though this book is fictional, full of fictional characters it is based on actual events and actual people who lived and died during an horrific time in history that must never be forgotten nor repeated.